CosmoCaixa imagines life beyond Earth in a new exhibition on extraterrestrials

The CosmoCaixa Science Museum explores the answers to one of humanity’s greatest questions: the possibility that we are not alone in the universe. The exhibition Extraterrestrials. Is There Life Outside Earth? presents a fascinating and scientifically rigorous narrative that delves into topics such as our place in the cosmos, the meaning of the concept of life, and how literature and cinema have shaped a collective imaginary about extraterrestrials. 

This Tuesday, the director of the CosmoCaixa Science Museum, Valentí Farràs, and the astrophysicist Montserrat Villar presented Extraterrestrials. Is There Life Outside Earth?, an inspiring exhibition exploring one of humanity’s greatest questions for millennia: Are we alone in the universe? To this day, there is still no conclusive evidence, but for the first time in history, scientific and technological advances allow us to glimpse an answer to this great mystery.

This is an in-house exhibition organised by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, based on an idea developed by the exhibition’s scientific advisors: Montserrat Villar Martín, PhD in Physical Sciences, astrophysicist and researcher at the Centre for Astrobiology (CAB) CSIC-INTA; Eva Villaver Sobrino, PhD in Physical Sciences, astrophysicist and research professor at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC); Ester Lázaro Lázaro, PhD in Biological Sciences, virologist, molecular biologist and researcher at CAB CSIC-INTA; and Benjamín Montesinos Comino, PhD in Physical Sciences, astrophysicist and also a researcher at CAB CSIC-INTA.

With the help of these experts, the exhibition – structured into five areas – builds a narrative aimed at clarifying doubts through the dissemination of existing scientific knowledge, challenging clichés, exploring possible futures and inspiring visitors to imagine what discovering life outside Earth would mean for humanity.

The exhibition begins by situating us in the cosmos, since understanding our place in it leads us to wonder whether extraterrestrial life exists. It then explores, from a historical perspective, the great philosophical debate between those who argue for the uniqueness of life on Earth and those who believe in the existence of other inhabited worlds. The exhibition also examines how we humans have imagined alien worlds and life forms, and how we have depicted them in art, film and literature, while also showcasing Earth’s extreme environments, home to organisms that seem straight out of science fiction. Finally, through scientific evidence, the exhibition presents the current state of research in this field while also considering possible future scenarios, should we one day discover life beyond our planet.

Extraterrestrials. Is There Life Outside Earth? features a carefully designed and thought-provoking exhibition space, showcasing scenographic displays and models such as the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter – two robots created by NASA to explore the surface of Mars. It also includes replicas of the golden records carried on the Voyager spacecrafts, sent into interstellar space carrying sounds and images from Earth, as well as artistic representations of radio telescope antennas like those used in the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project. Additionally, the exhibition features real artefacts, including the Ksar Ghilane 002 meteorite, which originated from Mars.

Staying true to the essence of CosmoCaixa, the exhibition features various interactive elements, including a touch table for exploring the galaxy, a module on the circumstellar habitable zone to understand the physical conditions required for a planet to support life as we know it, and three modules showcasing the different techniques currently used to detect exoplanets. Visitors can also test themselves by trying to guess from their appearance whether certain creatures displayed in the exhibition are real terrestrial beings or, on the contrary, fictional extraterrestrials.

Audiovisuals also play a key role in the exhibition, featuring clips from films such as E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Blob. These examples illustrate how humans have often depicted extraterrestrials based on familiar elements from our own world, with such representations frequently reflecting our fears or beliefs.

The itinerary concludes with an immersive sensory experience where visitors, surrounded by images from NASA and ESA missions of star fields, nebulae and planets, can reflect – based on all the information gathered throughout the exhibition – on the possibilities of finding life outside our world and what they imagine it might be like.

Extraterrestrials: beyond the exhibition hall